From the Chair: Reflecting Race in Our Profession

School counselors have long advocated for equity in schools so that all students have equal opportunities to learn, grow and ultimately succeed in the workforce (see “The School Counselor and Equity for All Students”). School counselors strive to mitigate the achievement gap; we know that while there are more students of color in the United States than white students, fewer students of color are graduating from high school. Focus has been on the access to modern facilities, challenging curriculum, cutting edge technology, reasonable classroom sizes and appropriate counselor to student ratios. These are components of equity that play an important role in the education of a student; however, equity in schools includes other aspects that need addressing, such as equitable representation of people of color in the workforce.

Research tells us that students of color benefit from direct work with school counselors/educators who share similar backgrounds and experiences, yet the school counseling workforce in Connecticut and the United States is far from reflective of the student population. In a 2018 ASCA member survey, 81 percent of school counselors reported that they are white, 14 percent are Black, three percent are Asian and one percent are American Indian/Alaska Native. Although the demographics are similar overall for Connecticut, we lag behind in attracting school counselors from two populations: the Latinx and African American populations.

Two key questions are:

• What needs to happen in Connecticut to make the school counseling profession more diverse and attractive to people of color?
• What does CSCA need to do to support counselors of color so they remain in the profession?

CSCA’s “why” to taking on this challenge is answered in our vision statement and goals: “The Connecticut School Counselor Association (CSCA) is the organization in the state that promotes leadership and creates a professional school counseling identity. This is achieved by connecting, supporting, and empowering school counselors through professional learning and advocacy.” Two specific CSCA goals are to “promote equitable access to a comprehensive school counseling program to ensure student success” and “to work to build a diverse, active Governing Board that is representative of school counselors inclusive of all levels and settings.”

So we move forward on this journey of equity. On October 7, CSCA held a round table discussion, “Supporting and Recruiting School Counselors or Color,” that was graciously hosted by one of Connecticut’s school counseling graduate programs, Western Connecticut State University. Eighteen people attended in person while seven joined electronically for an informative exchange of perspectives and potential solutions. Attendees included school counselors, counselor educators, school counseling graduate students, higher education administrators, representatives from the State Department of Education and a representative from the American School Counselor Association (ASCA).

The group discussed potential barriers for people of color, including:

• some current admission practices to Connecticut’s graduate school counseling programs
• the graduate school counseling program requirements, with particular mention of the 700-hour internship requirement
• lack of awareness of the alternate means to school counseling certification
• the cost of attaining a degree
• the lack of a formal and informal network and cohort for people of color.

Another idea discussed was the need to promote a positive image of the Connecticut educator/school counselor. EdKnowledge, an online resource, was offered as “a collection of strategies and resources for building a diverse educator workforce.”

CSCA board members presented the idea of creating an outreach group as an extension of the governing board for school counselors of color. One goal of this group would be to hold networking events for school counselors of color and invite graduate students of color to join the network. The group also discussed the possibility of CSCA working alongside the State Department of Education to present information sessions on the multiple pathways to school counselor certification in Connecticut.

Participants had genuine interest in continuing the conversation at another location, date and time of day to further brainstorm ways to increase the diversity of the school counselor workforce in Connecticut. Please reach out to me at cscachairman@gmail.com if you are interested in working with CSCA on this issue.

Contact Eileen Melody, chair, CSCA Board of Directors, at cscachairman@gmail.com.